Manus under siege

Asylum seekers fight for survival at former refugee centre

“THE situation in Manus is critical. We are thirsty and have been waiting for rain in past few days. We have some water we’re rationing but it’s not enough in the tropical heat. Immigration destroyed the water we’d collected from tropical rain,” tweeted refugee and Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani on November 20 as he and others holed up at the now decommissioned facility to which they refused to leave for new accommodation since the closure of the regional processing centre on Manus Island in October.

“Locals blocked the road to the new Hillside and West Haus prison camps in Lorengau. They’re unhappy with relocating people to their small community. You can’t force locals and refugees to live together. “There’s no electricity in the new prison camp. The refugees are suffering there. About 30 refugees wanted to come back to be with us.